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THE KING’S BUSINESS
C hrist b o th g race a n d tru th are fully m ad e known. In b o th respects th a t which com es th ro u g h Jesu s C h rist is co n tra sted w ith th e law. Law a n d g race are d iam etrically o p p o sed to., one a n o th e r (R om . 4 :4 , 5 ) , b u t so are th e law a n d tr u th ; fo r in th e law w e h a v e only th e shadow s o f good things to com e, while in C hrist w e h av e th e b o d y a n d reality (H e b . 1 0 :1 ; Col. 2 :1 6 , 1 7 ). T h e c o rre spo n d en c e a n d un ity o f J o h n ’s te a ch ing w ith th a t o f P au l shou ld b e carefully no ted . It is n o t likely th a t it w as in ten tion a l on J o h n ’s p a rt b u t sim ply th e result o f th e sam e H o ly Spirit speak ing th ro u g h th em b o th . T h e w o rd “ g race” which is so c h a r acteristic o f P au l do e s n o t occur elsew here in J o h n ’s w ritings excep t in his salu tation s (2 Jo h n 3 ; Rev. 1 :4 ; 2 2 :2 1 ) . T h e w o rd “ tru th ,” how ever, is one o f th e characteristic w o rd s of John , con stan tly re a p p e a r ing. W h ile Jesu s C hrist has b e e n th e p erso n w ho h as con stan tly b e e n In J o h n ’s m ind from th e v e ry first v erse o f th e ch ap te r, H e is h ere m en tio n ed b y n am e fo r th e first tim e as Jo h n d raw s tow a rd th e close of his in trodu ction . T h e n am e h ere used, “Jesu s C h rist,” sets fo rth H is tru e h um an ity a n d th e fact th a t H e is S av iou r in th e w o rd “Jesu s” (cf. M att. 1 :2 1) an d H is re la tion to th e old d isp en sation an d H is office in th e w o rd “C h rist.” It w as in ev it ab le th a t J o h n shou ld use this n am e a t this p o in t; fo r th e w ho le pu rpo se o f th e Book is to convince m en “ th a t Jesu s is th e Christ, th e Son of G o d ” (J o h n 2 0 :3 1 ) . T h e o th e r p a rt of th a t which J o h n sough t to p ro v e is found in th e n ex t verse w here th e in c a rn a te W o rd is spok en o f as th e “on ly b e g o tte n S on .” It is well to notice in passing th e definite sta te m en t m ad e h e re th a t “ th e law was given b y Moses.” T h e re is a b u n d a n t ev idence th a t J o h n w as divinely in sp ired in th s o th e r things h e has
u ral in te rp re ta tio n o f th e w o rd s an d th e in te rp re ta tio n th a t b e st fits th e con tex t, is th a t given above. T h is is sub stan tia lly th e in te rp re ta tio n of A lfo rd , W estco tt, D o d d rid g e , W e s ley, Lucke, M eyer (th e G e rm an M ey e r), T ho lu ck an d others. It has b e en well said th a t this 16th v erse “ is one o f th e G o ld e n T ex ts o f th e A p o stle J o h n .” W e w ould d o well to stop an d m e d ita te up o n it a n d a p p ro p ria te to ourselves la rg e r m easures o f th e g race of which we h av e a lre a d y received. V . 17. “For (ra th e r, “because” ) the law was given by (ra th e r, “through” ) Moses, but grace and truth came by (ra th e r, through) Jesus Christ.” V e rse 17 gives th e reason fo r th e tru th sta te d in verse 16. W e c an receive of H is fullness becau se it is n o t law b u t g race an d tru th th a t com e th ro u g h Jesu s Christ. T h e re is no possible receiving o f any th in g b u t con d em n a tio n u n d e r law . T h is truth, which is clearly d e c la red a n d fully ex p o u n d ed b y P au l (R om . 3 ) . is h ere an noun c ed b u t n o t amplified by John . Both verses 16 an d 17 also give th e reason o r th e p ro o f of th e sta tem en t m ad e in verse 14, th a t th e in c a rn a te W o rd w as “ full of grace an d tru th .” T h a t H e w as “ full o f g race an d tru th ” is a m a tte r of experience on th e p a rt of all b e liev ers. T h e law w as “ g iven” fo r a sp e cial purpose, nam ely, to b rin g m en to a sense o f sin a n d n e ed (R om . 3 :2 0 ; 5 :2 0 ; Gal. 3 :1 9 ) , an d m ight thu s b ecom e our tu to r to b rin g us to C hrist: b u t “g race an d tru th ” a re th e th ing s which satisfy m a n ’s essen tial need an d th ey com e th ro u g h Jesus Christ. T h a t which com es th rough H im is th e rev e la tion an d im p a rta tio n o f G o d ’s free unm erited love an d fa v o r; it is sp o k en o f as tru th ” as co n tra sted w ith error, an d reality as co n tra sted w ith m ere seem ing an d ap p e a ran ce . In Jesus
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